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Games like Diablo 3 should help struggling sales in May

2012 is not shaping up to be a great year for the video game industry. The bad news extends beyond losses posted by Nintendo and Sony. Total video game sales were down 42% in April compared to a year earlier, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The numbers certainly are bleak:

Retailers brought in $292.1 million compared to last April's $503.2 million.

Console sales fell 32% from last year to $189.7 million.

Though a few bright points remain:

Sales of controllers and other accessories were $148.6 million, holding steady from last year.

Online game subscriptions and digital downloads increased, totaling $370 million - and illustrating how important this model is to the future of the industry.

All told, April was a $1 billion month for the gaming industry.

May is set to be a better month, with major releases like Diablo III expected to sell quite well.

Still, as Paul Tassi notes, this is not just a symptom of fewer new releases, it's also a sign that this console generation is at the end of its run.

"Simply put," Paul writes, "this decline isn’t anything unwarranted. When a system has been out for this long, and it’s clear that a new console generation is about to begin, you would expect declining sales. Similar results have been seen over at Nintendo as the Wii has now become something of a dinosaur, especially with the WiiU on the horizon. In short, prices on these consoles really can’t drop much further to inspire sales, and many who would buy these consoles already own them, and are now waiting for the next cycle to start."

Whatever the case, I don't think anyone should get particularly worried over a bad month, or even a bad year. This happens in almost every industry and isn't an indication of end times. Gaming is still on the rise, more so now than ever. We all have bad days, and the gaming industry is simply having a bad year - so far.

On the other hand, I do hope the industry pays attention to the widespread discontent over DRM, DLC, and other practices that are irking the gaming customer base.

The impact of these practices may not be felt in the short-term, but as gamers become increasingly savvy and as other development options such as crowd-funding become more popular, customer reaction could impact game sales.